Improvement in compressed-air water-elevators



4 SheeLs-Sheet l.

J. PATTEN. Compressed-Air Water-Elevator,

"No. 211,774. Patenjed jan. 28,1879.

ilwwm N-PETEQS, FHOTO-LITNOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D C.

4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. PATTEN.

Patented Jan. 28,1879.

g; gwisavm N.PEl'F-RSv PHOTO UTROGRAPHER, WASHINGTON, O C.

4Sheets$het3. J. PATTEN. Compressed-Air Water-Elevator. No. 211,774..

Patented Jan. 28,1879

N FEMS. PHOTO-LITNOGRAFHERFWASHINGTON. D. 0.

4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

JLPATTEN. Compressed-Air Water-Elevator.

No. 211,774. Pate n't'ed Jan. 28, 1879.

UNITED STATES PATENT FFIUE.

JOHN PATTEN, OF SPRUCE MOUNTAIN, N EVADA.

IMPROVEMENT IN COMPRESSED-AIR WATER-ELEVATORS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 211,774, dated January28, 1879 application filed March 28, 1878. v

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN PATTEN, of Spruce Mountain, county of Elko, andState of Nova da, have invented an Air-Compressor and ater-Elevator; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

The object of my invention is to provide a novel mechanism which isemployed principally to compress air by means of the action or pressureof a column of water; and it may act, secondarily, to elevate anothercolumn of water toany desired point by the action and force of the airthus compressed through the medium of suitable mechanism.

The principle of action of my apparatus is to employ the compressed airto force the water upward in a succession of short lifts, in which theair shall not be condensed in bulk within the operating-chambers to sogreat an extent as to inj uriously lessen the proportion of waterlifted; and it is accomplished by the employment of a series ofdouble-acting chamby reference to the accompanying drawings, in

which- Figure l is a general view of my apparatus. Fig. 2 is a view ofthe valve-motion of the discharge-chambers. Fig.3 shows the induction orlifting chambers. Figs. 4 and 5 are detailed views of parts of myinvention. Fig. 6 is a view of the valve-stem, valve, and operativemechanism.

In the operation of my apparatus I place the chambers in pairs, A Abeing the water-discharge, or air-compressing chambers, and B B thelifting-chambers.

The compressing-chambers have a waterpipe, 0, leading down between orpast them and opening into them from below through suitable chambers andvalves, which will be morefullydescribedhereinafter. Thesevalves areautomatic in their action, and their office is to allow the water toalternately fill and be discharged from the chambers A, so that theaction will be continuous. Each pair of these chambers is situated ataconsiderable distance below the preceding pair or the source of supply, and the pressure of the water as it descends and flows into thebottom of one of the chambers will compress the air in the upper part ofthe chamber and force it out through suitable valves at the top intoapipe,D, which extends along beside all the chambers, so as to receivethe compressed air from each and convey it to the lifting-chambers B.

lVhile one chamber, A, is filling with water and compressingair into theair-pipe, the other chamber of the pair is discharging its water, whichdescends to the chambers below to perform the same ofiice again, whilean inwardlyopening valve allows the discharging-chamber to refill withair for another compression, and so on.

The compressed air from the pipe D is admitted alternately into thechambers B, the lowest pair being so placed that they will be filled byhaving the head of water a little over them. The air then forces thewater from one chamber to one of the pair next above, while itscounterpart is being filled from below.

The action of the various valves is automatic, and it will be seen that,by having one or more compression-chambers in excess of the pumping orlifting chambers, a constant flow of water may be provided to anyheight.

The valves of the compression-chambers A consist of two sets of waterand two sets of air valves, a float, E, in each chamber connectnectingwith the stems of the water-valves, so that they are automaticallyoperated by the filling and emptying of the chambers. The valve-stem Fof each set of valves has a piston, G, at one end, and two valves, H I,at its opposite end, one of which closes the outletopening J while theother closes the inletopening K. The valves are situated in a chamberbetween the inlet-opening and the outlet-opening, so that when one valveis open the other is closed. The piston Gr is of larger diameter andarea than either of the valves,

so that it will, under an equal pressure of water, operate to close theinlet and open the outlet valve.

The piston G is forced outward by this pressure of water, as abovestated, and is forced inward, when the piston is relieved of itspressure, by means of a weight, L, operating in the present case upon abellcrank lever, M. A spring might be substituted, if desired. Thepiston is connected with the valve-stem by an intervening link, N,having an elbow-joint, O, which allows the distance between the pistonand the valves to be increased or diminished, when desired.

From the elbow-joint a stem, 1?, projects upward into thepressure-chamber A, and has a head or stop upon its upper end. ThefloatE slides upon this stem, and, as the chamber fills with water, itrises until it strikes the stop, when it' will lift the arm of theelbowjoint 0, so as to allow it to pass a center and turn over, so as tolengthen the distance between the valves and the piston. This permitsthe outlet-valve connected with this piston to close independent of anymovement of the piston.

Itmay here be stated that the outlet and inlet valves of one chamber areconnected with the piston which is actuated by the pressure of water inthe opposite chamber, so that when one chamber is full and the otherempty the action of the float in the full chamber allows theoutlet-valve of the empty chamber to close, and this brings thewater-pressure in the supply-pipe to bear upon the piston in the samechamber, but which actuates the valves in the full chamber, and by itsgreater area it will open the outlet-valve of that chamber.

In order to prevent one chamber from commencin g to fill before theother one is entirely empty, a stem or shaft, Q, extends from the lowerpart of one chamber to the other, having a guide at each end. Abell-crank lever, B, is hinged at one end to a cross-bar or sup port, asat S, and is pinned to the stem Q at a point near its angle. The otherend of the lever is connected with a sliding ring, T, which olasps thestem I, and when the floatin either chamber descends so as to strikethis ring it will, by its operation upon the bell-crank lever B, forcethe stem Q to move inward, which action elevates the ring in theopposite chamber, where it remains until that chamber is emptied. As thewater fills one of the chambers the air is compressed, and escapesthrough the valve U into the conveying-pipe C until the chamber isfilled with water and the float has reached the top, where it strikesthe stop upon the stem P, as before described.

A lever, V, extends into the chamber just above the end of the stem, andconnects with a check-valve, IV. A small float, V, is secured to theinner end of this lever, and when the float E has risen to the topbefore the op posite chamber is quite empty this small float raises thelever and closes the checlcvalve, so that no water will escape into theair-pipe.

When the water begins to escape from the chamber an inlet-valve, X, willbe opened by the exterior pressure of air, and will thus admit a newcharge of air to the chamber. The compressed air passing through thepipe D is conveyed to the lifting-chambers, where it enters a pair ofthese chambers, B, alternately, and by means of a set of valvesconstructed similarly to those employed in the opposite part of themachine already described.

The in gress-valves Y, for the compressed air, are mounted upon a stem,Z, having an extenal valve, A, opposite to them, which is opened toallow the air to escape after it has done its work and while the chamberis being again filled with water. A piston, 11, is secured to theopposite end of the stem Z, and this piston is situated in the oppositechamber, so as to be moved by pressure in its chamber and actuate thevalves in the other chamber, similarly to the method already describedfor the water-chambers. In the present case these valves are allsituated in the upper partof their chambers, as they are to operate inair instead of water.

A link and-elbow joint, at O, is operated so as to lengthen out thevalve stem Z by afloat, d, which moves upon a stem,'e, so asto lift thestem and operate the link, and this will allow the valves (6 to close,when desired, notwitlr standing the pressure of the piston I), in amanner similar to the operation of the watervalves H, before described.The float d strikes a stop, at f, about half-way up the stem, and thisraises the stem so as to operate the link. Another float, g, above thefloat d, continues to rise until it reaches the top of the chamber, andat that point it strikes a bell-crank lever, h, which is secured to ashaft, 2'. One of these levers is fitted into each chamber, and itsoffice is to hold the stem 0 up until the float in the opposite chamberhas risen so as to strike the arm of the lever in that chamber.

There are two floats, d and g, in each one of the lifting-chambers B,and one of these serves as a check-valve to prevent the air from getting into the water-pipe after the air has forced all of the water outof one chamber and the other chamber has not yet filled. While thechamber is partly filled with water, the same float d lifts upon the rodthat the other float slides on, and keeps the link in the rightposition. The float g reverses the valves and forms a valve in the upperpart of the chamber B, which prevents the water from getting into theair-valves in case one chamber should fill before the other is empty.

The shaft t, if not in line, may be united by a universal joint, j, orother device, and when the arm of one of these levers h is moved by thefloat striking it the opposite arm of the corresponding lever in theother chamber will be disengaged from the stem 6, so as to allow it todrop and the link to couple or .shorten up the valvestem Z again.

The discharge valve 70 allows the water to escape into theconveying-pipe I, and theingross-valves m allow the water to enter thechamber from the next station below. These valves are fitted to work ina double-acting valve-chamber of any suitable form, at or below thebottom of the operatingchambers. The operation of this part of thedevice will then be as follows: The air enters a chamber, B, which isfull of water, through the in gressvalve a, this having been allowed toopen and the egress-valve Y to close by the action of the float g in thechamber, which has risen so as to release the link, as before described;and the air-pressure thus introduced forces the waterout through thevalve K connected with this chamber, while the other chamber of the pairis filli-ngwith water. The operation is thus made continuous by thealternate action of the chambers, and it will be manifest that the watermay be raised to any height by securing the proper fall, so that theaircom pressin g chamber will be suitably operated. It will also bemanifest that the water-supply may be either that derived from theliftingchambers, or, if employed for the compression of air for otherpurposes, it may be all or partly derived from other sources.

Various modifications of my apparatus may be made to produce theresultsabove described.

In some cases it may be necessary to bring air to high pressures; and ifthis were attempted by simply filling the chambers with ordinary air,the compression would be so great that very little air would be forcedout of the chambers at each operation, and the process would be apractical failure. I, however, overcome this difficulty by introducingair which has already been compressed into the chamber where thefinishing compression is to take place, and when the water is thenintroduced with a higher pressure the already compressed air will not betoo much reduced in bulk by the further compression.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. The chambersA A, with their water-pressure pipe 0, and the air-pipe Dand operatingvalves, in combination with the chambers B B, provided withvalves and the receivingpipe 0, the whole operating substantially asshown, and for the purpose herein described.

2. The valve'stems I, having the valves H and I at one end, and thepistons G at the other, and operating in combination, substantially asshown and described, and for the purpose herein set forth.

3. The valves H and I and pistons G, united by the stems F, as shown, incombination with the weights L, or their equivalent devices, to move thepiston back, substantially as shown, and for the purpose hereindescribed.

4. The link N, with its elbow-joint O, in

combination with the valves, piston, and stem, for the purpose oflengthening and shortening the stem, substantially as shown, and for thepurpose herein described.

5. The link N and elbow-joint O in the valve-stem F, in combination withthe stem P and movable float E, for the purpose of operating the link,substantially as shown, ant for the purpose herein described.

6. The stem Q, and bell-crank lever It pinned to it and to the slidingring T, in combination with the stem P and float E, substantially asshown, and for the purpose herein described.

7. The float V, in combination with the check-valve W and lever V, incombination with the chambers A and automatic valves, substantially asshown, and for the purpose herein described.

S. The combination of the exit air-valve U, inlet-valve X, andcheck-valve W with its lever V and float V, to prevent the passage ofwater, substantially as shown, and for the purpose herein described.

9. The liftin g-chambers B, having the valves a and Y, and the piston b,united by the stem Z, and provided with the link and joint 0,substantially as shown, and for the purpose herein described.

10. The valves to and Y, piston b, stem Z, and link 0, in combinationwith the stem 6 and float g, and chamber B, substantially as shown, andfor the purpose herein described.

11. The floats cl and g, upon the stem e, acting first to hold the linkin proper position, and to reverse the valves after the chambers arefilled, in combination with the chamber B, substantially as shown, andfor the purpose herein described.

12. The float cl, sliding upon the stem, and acting as a valve at thebottom, and the float 1, serving the same purpose when it arrives at thetop of the stem, in combination with the chamber 13, substantially asshown, and for the purpose herein described.

13. The shaft or shafts z, carrying the bell crank levers It, saidlevers serving to hold up the stems e alternately in one chamber and theother until released by the action of the opposite float, substantiallyas shown, and for the purpose herein described.

14. In combination with the chambers B, with their automatic valvesoperating as shown, the ingress and egress valves K and m, substantiallyas shown, and for the purpose herein described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal.

JOHN PATTEN. n s.]

Witnesses Gno. H. STRONG, EDWARD A. RIX.

